Seoul: The number of people who have expressed their intention to join a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Coupang Inc. over a recent massive data leak has surpassed 2,300, a domestic law firm said Friday. Daeryun Law Firm LLC reported that its U.S. subsidiary, SJKP Law Firm LLP (SJKP LLP), has received applications from 2,346 individuals, mostly Korean nationals with U.S. citizenship, local residents, and consumers living in South Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the number is expected to rise as some consumers who joined a domestic lawsuit sought by Daeryun have also indicated plans to participate in the U.S. class action. During a press conference held Monday (U.S. time), SJKP LLP announced its preparation to file a class-action complaint in the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York against Coupang. The company is accused of having the personal data of its 33.7 million users in Korea leaked but "has shown no meaningful accountability to date."
"As a U.S. corporation, it must answer to the full authority of the American judicial system. Through this lawsuit, we intend to uncover the truth behind the breach and secure meaningful compensation for affected individuals," SJKP stated. The U.S. action will proceed independently in U.S. courts, regardless of developments in Korea.
SJKP emphasized that while Korean proceedings focus on compensating consumer harm, the U.S. lawsuit, led by SJKP in partnership with Daeryun, will address fundamentally different issues: Coupang's failures in corporate governance and breaches of disclosure obligations as a U.S.-listed company. The firm aims to file the class-action lawsuit against the New York-listed e-commerce giant within the year.
On November 29, Coupang confirmed that the personal information of 33.7 million customer accounts had been exposed, a figure far higher than the 4,500 accounts initially reported to authorities on November 20. The number of affected users is equivalent to nearly two-thirds of South Korea's population.
Given that active users of Coupang's Product Commerce division, including its delivery service, reached 24.7 million in the third quarter, the scale of the leak suggests nearly the entire user base may have been affected. The updated figure reveals that users' personal information, including names, phone numbers, email addresses, and delivery addresses, was compromised. However, the company stated that payment information and login credentials were not affected.